TELL-US Journal, Vol.

4, Issue 1, March 2018, P-ISSN: 2442-7608; E-ISSN: 2502-7468

STKIP PGRI Sumatera Barat – Indonesia

SLANG WORD FORMATION IN

PITCH PERFECT MOVIE

Rolla Irma1, Yola Merina2, Melati Theresia3

1
Mahasiswa Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris STKIP PGRI Sumatera Barat
2
Dosen Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris STKIP PGRI Sumatera Barat
E-mail: 1)rollairma18@gmail.com, 2)yolam3@gmail.com. 3)theresia.mela@gmail.com

Submit:10-03-2018 Review:31-07-2018 Accepted: 31-07-2018

Doi: 10.22202/tus.2018.v4i1.2496

Abstract
This aim of this research is to identify the type of slang that consists of the type of word formation in
Pitch Perfect Film. Researcher chose to fi nd the slang word in the field of literature in film. In this
research, researcher used content analysis design. Content analysis design is used to see the meaning
and type that was stated in slang. In collecting the data, the researcher used observational method by
using non-participant observational technique. In analyzing data, the researcher used identity method
and it was followed by using equalizing technique. There are four types of word formation type in
slang that was found in this film, they are compounding, back-formation, suffixation, and conversion.
Keywords: Slang, Word Formation

INTRODUCTION
Communication is an important thing in human’s life. Everytime and everywhere
people do it to get their needs. They use language as the main tools in this process of
communication. Language can be used both in oral and written forms based on their context.
While from its context, language can be used in formal and formal situation. People usually
use formal or standart language in formal context, while in informal context people usually
use informal one. There are some kinds of language variaties that use in informal context, one
of them is slang.
Slang is the use of informal words and expression that are not considered standart in a
given language but may be considered more acceptable when used socially and has long
inhabit the area of friction between generation, nations, and social classes. In slang, the people
has perception that slang can use in many informal condition in different area.Slang can be
say as a universal. It is found in all languages and all time periods. It varies from region to
region, and from past to present. So slang in New York and slang in Los Angeles differ. Slang
meets a variety of social needs and rather than a corruption of the language, it is yet futher
evidence of the creativity of the human language user.Slang in informal used by member

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STKIP PGRI Sumatera Barat – Indonesia

some certain ethnical or social group for example is adolescent or tennagers. In social group,
the resarcher often hear there is people use sign, phrase, or certain sentence to submit secret
which may not know by others. In this case they use Ianguage which sometimes disagree with
good structure, for example usage of slang words.
The use of slang has developed from time to time. They creats a lot of new words and
modify standard words for internal using. Word as a part of language has important rule in
forming a language. People always use it to build a sentence, but they do not know where do
actually those millions words come from. People as the user of language sometimes do not
think about how a language is formed. There are millions words now used by people. The use
of slang has introduced many new words into the language by recombining old words into
new meaning. The meaning of the new word form is influence by the process of forming a
word. This process is usually called word formation process.
Word formation is the process used in language for creation of new words. Other
processes are sometimes regarded part of word formation. Word formation can be used both
in written and spoken language. Language always develops along with the users. So, there are
many new words that they created in their daily communication mostly in spoken language.
The processes of forming the new word from the old word to the new word can use some
processes for example: compounding, prefixation, suffixation, final ombining forms,
infixation, conversion, back-formation, reduplicatives, acronyms and initialism, blending,
clipping (Mattiello : 72-154).

Slang
Slang is easy enough to be used, but it is hard to write about with the facile
convincingness that a subject apparently so simple would, at first sight, seem to demand.
many scholar believe that it is, essentially, non-standard English used in Canada and America.
However, it is a linguistics tool that can help us take command of any conversation or
understand any publication. Moreover, Eble (1996:11) states that slang is an ever changing set
of colloquial words and phrases that speaker use to establish or reinforce social identity or
cohesiveness within a group or with a trend or fashion in society at large. It means that slang
become a trending in any faction or group, slang makes the identity of a group of different
with another. The existence of vocabulary of this sort within a language is possibly as old as

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STKIP PGRI Sumatera Barat – Indonesia

language itself, for slang seems to be part of any language used in ordinary interaction by a
community large enough and diverse enough to have identifiable subgroups.
Yule (2010: 13) proposes that slang is more typically used among those who are outside
established higher-status groups. Slang, or “colloquial speech,” describes words or phrases
that are used instead of more everyday terms among younger speakers and other groups with
special interests. It means that slang is an aspect of social life that is subject to
fashion,especially among adolescents. It can be used by those inside a group who share
ideasand attitudes as a way of distinguishing themselves from others.
Coleman (2012:43) mention that slang is the use of informal words and expressions that
are not considered standard in a given language but may be considered more acceptable when
used socially. It means that the use of slang normally used by some communities.Many group
or community use slang because slang can differentiate an group with others.

Word Formation
Word formation processes are the processes of forming new words or terms from the old
word to the new word. According to Fromkin in Merina (2015), word formation consists of
derivational pullet surprises, word coinage, acronyms, blends, back-formation, and word from
names.
Beside that, Baurer (2002:7), word formation is of central interest to theoretical linguists
of all persuasions because of the light it throws on others aspects of language. It means that
there is little agreement on the methodology or basic the theoretical background for the study
of word formation, so that the field is currently a confused one.
Besides that, Plag (2003: 13) state that word formation can be divide as study of the wise
in which new complex word are built on the basic of other words or morphemes. It means that
new words in word formation process can be formed the existing words to the new meaning.
The words can also be built by adding and combining some morphemes to a word.
Herbst (2010:95) states that word formation is the two latter phenomena are interrelated,
however, in that the influence of a donor language may result in new word material taken
over in the receptor language or in the formation of new words. It means that the combination
or modification of lexical material of the same languagestudy under the heading of
morphology and word formation.

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STKIP PGRI Sumatera Barat – Indonesia

It can be concluded that word formation process are the morphological processes that are
conducted two form or create new words. And sometimes the processes of forming the new
words from the existing words to the new meaning. The word can be built on the basic of
other words or morphemes.
Types of Word Formation
According to O’Grady (1996: 138-159 ), there are types of word formation:
a. Derivation
Derivation forms a word with a meaning and/ or category distinct from that of its base
though the addition of an affix, it contains word formed by adding the suffix –er to a verb
to form a noun with the meaning. For example, sell (sell-er), write (writ-er), teach (teach-
er) and sing (sing-er)
b. Compounding
Another common way to build words in English involves compounding, the
combination of lexical categories (nouns, adjectives, verbs, or preposition). Such as,
greenhouse is an N because its rightmost component is an N, spoon-feed is a V because
feed also belongs to this category.
c. Conversion
Conversion is a process that assigns an already existing word to a new syntactic category.
Conversion is usually restricted to words containing a single morpheme. Many examples of
conversion involving the creation of a new verb from a noun:
V derived from N: finger (a suspect), butter (the bread), ship (the package, nail (the door
shut), button (the shirt)
N derived from V: (a building) permit, (an exciting) contest, (a new) survey, (a brief) report,
(a long) walk.
V derived from A: dirty (a shirt), empty (the box), open( a door), right (a wrong), dry ( the
clothes).
d. Clipping
Clipping is a process that shortens a polysyllable word by deleting one or more syllable.
Some of the most common products of clipping are names Liz, Ron, Rob, Sue, and so on.
Clipping is especially popular among students; it has yielded forms like Prof for professor,
phys-ed for physical education. A number of such abbreviations have accepted in general
usage: doc, ad, auto, lab, sub, porn, demo, and loco.
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STKIP PGRI Sumatera Barat – Indonesia

e. Blends
Blends are words that created from non-morphemic part of two already existing items.
Well known examples of blends include brunch from breakfast and lunch, smog from
smoke and fog, spam from spiced and ham, aerobicise from aerobics and exercise,
infomercial from information and commercial. As these examples show, a blend usually
formed from the first part of one word and the final part of a second one.
f. Backformation
Backformation is a process that creates a new word by removing a real or supposed
affix from another word in the language. Other backformation in English include
housekeep from housekeeper, enthuse from enthusiasm, donate from donation, and
orientate from orientation.
g. Acronyms
Acronyms formed by taking the initial letters of some or all of the words in a phrase or
title and reading them as a word. This type of word formation is especially common in
names of organizations and scientific terminology. Some examples of acronyms include
UNICEF for United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, NATO for North
Atlantic Treaty Organization, and AIDS for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.
h. Onomatopoeia
All languages have words whose sound represents an aspect of the thing that they
name. Examples of such onomatopoeia words in English include buzz, hiss, sizzle, and
cuckoo.
i. Coinage
Coinage is especially common in cases where industry requires a new and attractive
name for a product. Kodak, Orlon and Teflon are examples of product names that are the
result of word manufacture.
Moreover, Yule (2006: 53-60) state that the ability must derive in part from the fact
that there is a lot of regularity in the word-formation processes in a language. There are
some of the basic processes by which new words are created.
a. Coinage
One of the least common processes of word formation in English is coinage, that is,
the invention of totally new terms. The most typical sources are invented trade names for

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STKIP PGRI Sumatera Barat – Indonesia

commercial products that become general terms (usually without capital letters) for any
version of that product. For example are aspirin, nylon, vaseline and zipper;
b. Borrowing
That is the taking over of words from other languages. Throughout its history, the
English language has adopted a vast number of words from other languages, including
croissant (French), dope (Dutch), lilac (Persia), piano (Italian), pretzel (German), sofa
(Arabic), tattoo (Tahitian), tycoon (Japanese), yogurt (Turkish) and zebra (Bantu).
c. Compounding
There is joining of two separate words to produce a single form. Common English
compunds are bookcase, doorknob, fingerprint, sunburn, textbook, wallpaper, wastebasket,
and waterbed. All these examples are nouns, but we can also create compound adjectives
(good-looking, low-paid), and compounds of adjective (fast) plus noun (food) as in a fast-
food restaurantor full-time job
d. Blending
The combination of two separate forms to produce a single new term is also present in
the process. However, blending is typically accomplished by taking only the beginning of
one word and joining it to the end of the other word. For example, there is a product that is
used like gasoline, but is made from alcohol, so the “blende” word for referring to this
product is gasohol, smurk (smoke+murk), brunch (breakfast+lunch), motel (motor+hotel),
and infotainment (information+entertainment).
e. Clipping
The element of reduction that is noticeable in blending is even more apparent in the
process describe. This occurs when a word of more than one syllable is reduce to a shorter
form. Other common example are ad (advertisement), bra (brassiere), cab (cabriolet),
condo (condominium), fan (fanatic), flu (influenza), perm (permanent wave). English
speakers also like to clip each other’s names, as in Al, Ed, Liz, Mike, Ron, Sam, Sue, and
Tom.
f. Backformation
Typically a word of one type (usually a noun) is reduced to form a word of another
type (usually a verb). Other examples of words created by this process are : donate (from
“donation”), emote (from “ emotion”), enthuse (from “enthusiasm”) and babysit (from
“babysitter”)
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g. Conversion
A change in the function of a word, as for example when a noun comes to be used as a
verb (without any reduction). The conversion can involve:
V derived from N : to print out become nouns a printout
N derived from V : (a building) permit, (a new) survey, (a long) walk
V derived from A : dry (the clothes), empty (the box), open (a door)
h. Acronyms
Acronyms are new words formed from the initial letters of a set of other words. These
can be forms such as CD (Compact Disk) or VCR (Video Cassette Recorder) where the
pronunciation consist of saying each separate letter. More typically, acronyms are
pronounced as new single words, as in NATO, NASA, or UNESCO.
i. Derivation
The most common word formation process to be found in the production of new
English word generally described as affixes. Some familiar example are the elements un-,
mis-, pre-, -ful, -less, -ish, -ism, and –ness which appear in words like unhappy,
misrepresent, prejudge, joyful, careless, boyish, terrorism and sadness.
j. Prefixes and suffixes
Some affixes have to be added to the beginning of the word (e.g un-, mis-). These are
called prefixes. Other affixes have to be added to the end of the word (e.g. –less, -ish) and
are called suffixes. All English words fromed by this derivational process have either
prefixes or suffixes, or both. Thus, misleadhas a prefixes, disrespectfulhas both a prefix
and a suffix, and foolishness has two suffixes.
k. Infixes
There is third type of affix, not normally used in English, but found in some other
language. It is an affix that is incorporated inside another word. It is possible to see the
general principle at work in certain expressions, occasionally used in fortuitous or
aggravating circumstances by emotionally aroused English speaker: Hallebloodylujah!,
Absogoddamlutely! and Unfuckinbelievable!
l. Multiple processes
It is possible to trace the operation of more than one process at work in the creation of
a particular word. For example, the term deli seems to have that become a common

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STKIP PGRI Sumatera Barat – Indonesia

American English expression via a process of first borrowing delicatessen (from German)
and the clipping that borrowed form.
According to Mattiello (2008: 72-154), there are several word formation processes:
a. Compounding
Compounding is a common morphological mechanism which obtains new words
consist of two element, the first of which is obtains a root, a word or a phrase, the second
of which is either a root or a wood.
b. Prefixation
Among slang affixes, prefixes play a marginal role. This number is needed small,
especially if compared with that of slang suffixes. The only prefix which deserves attention
is schm-/shm- (as in child schmild), since its origin is in colloquial rather than standard
language.
c. Suffixation
Slang suffixes is constrained by their ephemeral character, and it is difficult to predict
possible words, that is, their applicability in term of base and suffix.
d. Final combining forms
In modern English there are two extra types of combining forms, namely truncated
forms of model words. It remains true, however, that combining forms develop a novel
meaning which is connected to, but independent from that of the original full word.
e. Infixation
Infixation is the process whereby an affix is inserted in the middle of a word. Such as,
absolutely=abso-blooming-lutely, fan-fucking-tasti.
f. Conversion
Conversion is a process consisting of the syntatic change of a word without any
corresponding formal change (e.g. v run n run, n bottle= v bottle).
g. Back-formation
Back-formation is a rather infrequent mechanism in standard English. This word-
formation process is quite frequent in slang.
h. Reduplicatives
Slang redplicative rhyming compounds are illustrated, for example, by mellow yellow
(chiefly U.S).
i. Acronyms and initialisms
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Acronyms and initialism are words coinage by taking initial letters of the words in a
title or phare.
j. Blending
Blending are formed by merging parts of words into one word, as in smog, from
smoke and fog.
k. Clipping
Clipping is a process which abbreviates a word to one of its parts.
The researcher choses the theory of types of word formation processes by Yule
because this theory has specific classification of type word formation process and has clear
definition for each type that can help the researcher to analyze the data.

RESEARCH METHOD
This study was conducted in qualitative approach. It was aimed to analyze the data from
the source by doing interpretation. The design of this research was content analysis.
According to Kothari (2004:110) content analysis consist of analyzing the contents of
documentary materials, such as; books, megazines, newspapers and the contents of all other
verbal materials which can be either spoken or print.
In this research, the researcher used observationaly method. Observationally method
was used by paying attention in wich the researcher focused on the usage of language or
observation method. Besides, this research used SBLC (non participatory observational
method) technique recorder, rewrite technique that applied by Sudaryanto (1988, p.2). SBLC
itself used the tool was the researcher herself. The researcher did not have part in a dialogue
or conversation, and only focused on what the participants of conversation utter in
conversation. The researcherlisten to what stated not what discussed. In analyzing the data the
researcher used referential method. According to Sudaryanto (1993, p.13) that the referential
identity method is method of analyzing data where they key factors of the data are defined by
context outside of language itself such as; speaker, time, setting, and social situation.
Technique that used was competence-in-dividing technique. In which the researcher
categorized the language into its own types based on researcher’s mental or knowledge.

FINDING AND DISCUSSION

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STKIP PGRI Sumatera Barat – Indonesia

The researcher had done analyzing of the data that had gotten. The data were analyzed
according to the theories that classified some slang word based on the context. Then the
researcher used the theory of types of slang word formation based on context to identify the
meaning in each datum. It could be seen that one utterance showed different meaning to its
literal meaning after analyzed based the context. It meant that expressive slang word itself did
not showed the meaning explicite, but it would be show based on the context.
The researcher found many types of slang word formation in Pitch Perfect movie. Each
type included some utterances that had been analyzed. The data were expected be suitable to
the research question. The slang word and types of slang word formation that found were
various. Researcher found 11slang words for 4 types even in the theory there were
twelvetypesof slang word formation. They were compound (adjective-noun compound),
suffixation (the suffix –o), conversation and back formation (-er). Each types had its function
based the context.

Hence, the researcher interpreted the finding of this research absolutely to see the slang
word used for each type of slang word formation. The researchers choose one type that was
related to the movie that has chosen. Then this type is consisted into some slang word that has
been analyzed. There are many utterances that show some slang word consist to type of slang
word formation. In the conversation, the speakers put their meaning in saying what in his or
her mind. Each type has function that is related to the context of conversation. The context
consists to situation, condition, surrounding and also the participant of the conversation itself.
Then, the meaning that is reflected from the utterance can be known as well as it be.

REFERENCES

Coleman, J., (2012). The Life of Slang.New York: Oxford University Press.

Eble, C., (1996). Slang & Sociability. New York: Oxford University Press

Herbst, T., (2010).English Linguistics: A Course Book for Students of English.New York:
Library of Congress.

Kothari, C. R., (2004). Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques. New Delhi: New
Age International.

Mattiello, E., (2008). An Introduction to English Slang: A Description of its Morphology,

Semantics and Sociology. Milano: International Scientific Publisher
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STKIP PGRI Sumatera Barat – Indonesia

Merina, Y., (2015). The Coining of Borrowing Words in The Process of Word Formation
Found in Pulsa Tabloid. Journal Polingan, Volume 4 No 1 2015, 48-59.

O’Grady, W., Dobrovolsky, M., Katamba, F., (1996).Contemporary Linguistics.London: St.

Martin’s Press.

Plag, I., (2003). Word-Formation in English.Cambridge: The Press Syndicate of The

University of Cambridge.

Sudaryanto, (1993). Metodedan Aneka Teknik Analisis Bahasa: Pengantar Penelitian

Wahana Kebudayaan Secara Linguistics. Jakarta: Duta Wahana University Press

Yule, G., (2010). The Study of Language. New York: Oxford University Press.

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